The Doctor Is In
by Marvy
Summary: A look at a possible eleventh incarnation other than Matt Smith. What fun we can have in alternate universes!
1. Regeneration

A/N: This story was born because my brother and I were watching..uhm...*SPOILER* it's a Martha episode, where they're in New New York and Martha gets kidnapped to go on the motorway? Face of Bo, anyone? Anyhow, there's a gent in one of the cars the Doctor gets into that has a pinstriped suit and a snazzy tie (and a bowler, but meh). Andy (my brother) and I were discussing what our ideal Eleventh Doctor would be. Now, I will definitely give Matt Smith a chance but... let me have my fun. P.S. I'm in America and haven't seen the actual end to D. Tennant's reign (I've heard about it from my brother and have seen the regen. bit of the episode) but I also won't see M. Smith's Doctor for quite some time. So...please...don't hate me?

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Doctor Who. The idea of it, and a lot of the characters I use. I'll be making up some alien races, sidekicks, and of course MY eleventh incarnation but...the idea behind the Whoniverse isn't mine. If it was...well...you'd be watching this, not reading it.

* * *

Prologue:  
Regeneration

The tenth Doctor's lanky frame spread out as if electrocuted, arms to the side and head back as the golden light of his regeneration burst forth to engulf his person. Aside from the excruciating pain of dying, he felt all of the heartbreak at the loss of his companions. Certainly they were better off without him – even Rose, happy with her human-Timelord version of his 'younger' self. Oh Rose... And Donna – so quick, Doctor Donna, never to know how she near single-handedly saved all existence from the Daeleks. Martha, who had pined so heartily for him, and Mickey who...well, was very much Mickey. Together now, without him. All of Torchwood - or what was left of it, anyhow - continuing on; started because of him, now working alongside. So to speak.

Now he was going – he would become nothing but memories, locked away in the heads of those that had befriended him and whomever would take over this form. Slowly, his thoughts ceased and his body crumpled in, limbs and torso shortening as the new Doctor took residence.

The form stood, swimming in its predecessor's garments, amongst the blinking lights of a falling TARDIS. Pale gray eyes did not notice, the mind encased in a head smaller than the last did not register. First, legs. Extended, tapped. "Right, check." This voice was high – a light falsetto, slightly Cockney - the mind belonging to it mused. Arms next. A nod. Hair moved, the Doctor did not seem to notice. Next, hiking up the extra fabric of the sleeves from the tenth Doctor's overly long suit jacket and shirt to reveal painfully blurry hands. That could only mean that the Doctor, in this form, was near-sighted. All those damn incarnations played around with the glasses and this one was the one stuck with bad eyes. At any rate, the Doctor continued to take stock of the newly-formed body parts. All ten fingers - well, eight fingers and two thumbs. They had full range of motion, though they looked a bit different than the last pair even blurry.

Something struck the mind as odd about how the new body felt. The latter moved about, the former trying to catch up with every new bit and piece.

"Oh-" the Doctor squeaked, hands reaching up to feel the length of hair that tumbled about thin shoulders. "Oh...oh, you've GOT to be kidding me. At least...at least a ginger, _please_ let me be **ginger**..." Small hands curved waves of brown to confront scrutinizing eyes.

"A giiiiiirrrrrl! A _girl_ and _not_ ginger!" A petite foot shod in a shoe many sizes too large kicked pitifully out and connected with a bit of the TARDIS. Light pink lips pursed in frustration as the Doctor pulled her foot back. "Oh just _marvelous_."

It was at this moment the TARDIS rocked heavily to one side, sending the eleventh Doctor sprawling. She let out a high-pitched squeal and recoiled at the sound she had made before she scrambled to stand, nearly tripping over the clothes that belonged to a man well over six feet not a young woman around five and a half. Hastily she removed the unneeded jacket and rolled up both sleeves and pant legs as well as found the oddly fitting pair fo glasses stored in a pocket and slipped them on. Ah, bless it, she could see. The TARDIS jolted again and she clung to the controls. "That last set of limbs was quite useful for this," she muttered, scurrying about the panel in an attempt to right her ship.

She ducked her head instinctively as something like an explosion sounded behind her head, sparks flying towards her. She grumbled something incoherent as she manouvered her beloved time-and-relative-dimension-in-space...police box and set course for somewhere to find a proper bit of clothing.

* * *

Thoughts? Criticism? I've touched it up like four times so if you read it once, read it again! If you have any ideas for companions or would like to assist with writing this, let me know. I'm always up for a bit of co-authoring.

Lovelovelove,

Marvy.


	2. Who Knows

A/N: Ha, two chapters in one day. And two reviews! Thanks you guys. Oh, by the way, I updated the prologue a teensy bit so make sure you've read it with the glasses bit!

Disclaimer: don't own the Whoniverse or the idea of it, don't own Captain Jack, Zog or the Cantina. Just my take on the Doctor. =)

* * *

One:  
Who Knows

Ahh, present-day London. Even after the near-disastrous run-in with Davros and his 'children' it was still the only proper place to buy clothing. The city was hardly worse for wear and by the time the Doctor had arrived, most people had dismissed the Earth's relocation as nonexistent. The Doctor shook her head – the human race was an odd one, to be sure.

The Doctor had changed into something resembling a legitimate outfit though she chafed in the jeans and t-shirt she had stolen from her stores on the TARDIS. She had tactfully avoided the shirt that belonged to Rose. She felt odd knowing she could wear it – then again, she simply felt odd in general. That was to be expected, though, wasn't it? How long had she been a man?

"What a strange thought," she murmured to herself, a queasy smile on her lips as she tugged at various parts of her body. She mushed up the skin on her face, pulled it down, yanked gently at her hair. She tapped her little nose – that was a change. It was a cute button of a thing, nothing like the beaks of the last two. Though, it gave her a childish countenance. She certainly wouldn't be intimidating anyone into giving up their position, not on-sight anyhow. There was a spattering of freckles across the middle of her face – from the edge of one cheek, across the bridge of her nose and to the other side. Her skin tone was light, almost porcelain-hued. She was, she felt, not wholly unattractive. But she looked like a_ doll_.

She was surprised she had possessed any kind of clothes that might fit her body. She didn't remember ever housing a midget – or many females that hadn't possessed their own modern-day clothes. Why in the world did she have these jeans...or these tiny shoes, for that matter?

Because the universe felt the need to mock her, she decided.

Despite the age in her eyes and the face of a twenty-something, the Doctor knew that she looked like a teenager in her get-up paired with her diminutive height. She was, as they say, not amused. She also realized she had no money. How often did she have need of it?

For a moment she was reminded of a time when her previous incarnation used the Sonic Screwdriver to accrue a bit of spare cash from an ATM.

"Marvelous," she grinned in a manner worthy of the Cheshire Cat as she set off, leaving her beloved TARDIS behind, to find the nearest available money box.

It was rather obvious from the disdainful look on the shop girl's face that she didn't believe the Doctor to be twenty-five or so, let alone far over nine hundred years. This was, to say the least, irritating. Once an ample stock of clothing was purchased, the Doctor carried her bags off to the TARDIS. It's rather odd to tell the delivery boy to leave them outside the old blue police box parked on the corner down the street, isn't it? So, the Doctor lugged bags upon bags back to her space (and time) ship. She decided, as she stripped off her pathetic excuse for an outfit and slid into something far more presentable, that she did _not_ enjoy shopping. She did, however, enjoy clothes.

The sight presented in the long mirror of the TARDIS' 'costume room' showed the petite figure of the 'new' Doctor. The tailored suit helped to age her a little, bring her out of assumed teendom. It gave the illusion of added height as well, as long as she wasn't near any kind of reference point. The dark gray mohair suit was set with thin, light blue pinstripes and the legs were hemmed to show off a bit of her black-and-gray wing-tip shoes. They were a little more feminine than all that, but most definitely not heels. She needed more arch support than Converses allowed for and refused to wear heels because she was certainly aware that she would need to be more spry than they would allow. The dress shirt she wore beneath the suit jacket was a soft cotton material in white, notable only for its quality. The most outlandish thing about her outfit – aside from the black-and-gray Fedora perched arrogantly askew on her head – was the vibrant tie strung about her neck. It was loose, as the dress shirt she wore was not buttoned to the collar, but that was hardly what drew ones' attention. It was several different shades of blue all knitted together in tie-shape. She had picked up several dozens of ties, each one more ridiculous than the last. The idea of her new collection made her smile that Cheshire smile. The rest of her purchases she stored away for another day before, tipping her hat into place, she moved herself over to the controls and removed herself to a far-off planet.

--

As she strolled about the streets of Zagizalgul, she slid her hands into the pockets of her suit pants very reminiscent of the previous Doctor with none of the height. She had reworked the glasses he wore – tortoise-shell, rectangular lens frames – and now she could see perfectly as she wandered about, the glasses hidden in a pocket until she had need of them. They worked and certainly suited her, but they were not _hers_. She would, she thought, invest in another pair. Perhaps black, or gray. For now, however, the brown pair would do.

"Ah, Zog," she smiled a little to herself, hunting down the cantina in which her former self had left Captain Jack Harkness along with Alonso Frame. Months ago, how she had traveled. She had bet on it – either she could slip in and out without him noticing, were he there and enjoying himself or she could approach him and... well, what exactly would she do?

Eh, play by ear.

--

The Cantina was a mass of dark, smoky air. Mass was, certainly, applicable as the Doctor felt as though she was swimming through the limited light in an attempt to find her target. She made a face, removing her hat as she approached the bar. Setting it down on the lightly glowing blue surface before her, she looked about for the bartender.

That wicked Alice in Wonderland smile curved her lips as the gray eyes beneath a fringe of dark lashes settled on Captain Jack, behind the bar. He moved over to her, wiping out a cup before setting it down before her. "What can I get you, sweet thing?"

_Sweet thing_? The Doctor snorted derisively – a very unladylike thing to do, she noted – but smiled up at the Captain. Odd, that – the Captain and the Doctor.

"Ohmm...Better go with water. Best not to get dehydrated." The Doctor bit her tongue inside her mouth afterwards, watching him demurely. Could she do that? Looks like.

Captain Jack's eyes flashed with brief recognition of the sentence but he just nodded, getting the requested drink.

"Perhaps a martini besides."

Jack retrieved the later drink as well, pouring one for himself.

He offered a toast to his customer, watching her with a gaze set to stun.

"I'm Jack, by the way," his bright blue eyes twinkled a bit in the dimness of the bar atmosphere.

Both people took a drink of their alcohol, the Doctor popping her olive in her mouth. Jack whistled lowly, laughing quietly as he leaned against his edge of the bar.

"What is a perfectly delectable thing such as yourself doing in a Zog cantina?"

"Looking for someone," she responded with a coy look in his direction, taking another sip of her martini. The Doctor so rarely imbibed and this new body's mind found that she thoroughly enjoyed the drink.

"Ahh, I see," Jack responded with a wink. "Any particular someone?"

In a fluid movement, she retrieved the glasses from a hidden pocket and slid them onto her nose. Watching him, she purred, "A captain."

Jack balked a little, squinting at her. No, he didn't recognize her face. Sure, those glasses looked familiar but certainly several people owned them. Maybe something in the eyes caught a memory but...no.

No, he did not remember her.

She looked human enough – did she know who he was by some bizarre twist of fate? Few on Zog knew of his old life; he kept it very well under wraps, just how he wanted it. He was living a new, different life free of the problems of his earth-bound one. Was it just a very, very good guess?

"What might you need a gentleman of that sort for?" He queried, casting a cursory glance to newcomers. His bar-tending partner could handle himself, Jack was busy.

"He's a good sort of gentleman to travel with," she responded as she finished her martini with a slight smile. Oh, did she like this new-found habit. The intensity of the alcohol burned her throat just enough to make her feel alive. Her eyes flashed with appreciation before she settled in again and started on her water.

This was too much for Jack. He tossed back the rest of his drink and excused himself a moment to take care of other customers. It was longer than a moment, but the Doctor waited. She sat there, gazing after Jack as she sipped her water without thought. Well, there was thought.

Jack looked hardly older than the first time they had met. Perhaps a single gray hair glittered. He could not die but, it seemed, he could slowly age. Of course, the Doctor knew the truth but she would not reveal it to Jack. That would be torturous on the poor bastard.

The Doctor left the glasses on, letting them slide to the end of her nose. She would need a pair of half-spectacles, she decided, so that she might wear them all the time but not risk headaches while she looked further than half a meter in front of her face. She mulled over things she had to achieve in the next few days - though, that measure of time was very relative - as she waited for her captain to rejoin her.

--

It was some time before Jack dared approach the petite woman at the bar a second time. When he did, he came armed with a question.

"I've told you my name – what's yours?"

"Just call me the Doctor."

Jack's jaw dropped – literally. It was a rather amusing sight for the woman as she sat, one knee over the other, waiting for him to speak.

"...Doc?" he breathed, leaning over the bar to press his face close to hers.

"Quite right, Captain." Her grin then reminded him suddenly of both incarnations he had met before this one but simultaneously was one very much her own.

"Oh Doctor," Jack smiled, his tone reminiscent of all their time together.

"Don't start."

* * *

Don't forget to let me know if you have any ideas or interest in co-authoring!

Lovelove,  
Marvy


	3. Make a Right

A/N: I know the first three bits have been short (this one included) but don't worry! The next chapter will be longer, I think. I had to decide what I wanted the first adventure to be.

Disclaimer: Only own the idea of this regen. but not anything in the Whoniverse.

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Two:  
Make a Right

It took little to convince Jack to leave the Cantina with her, though he had not agreed to leave the learned familiarity of Zog quite yet. Instead of heading for some far-off time or place in the TARDIS, they took a stroll in the light of the planet's copper-colored moon. Jack wore his charcoal-gray pea coat and the Doctor sported an unbuttoned version of her suit jacket as they weaved about the streets of Zagizalgul

"Well, wow," Jack's eyebrows lifted as he watched the new Doctor, his own hands buried deeply in the pockets of his dark gray slacks. "If I might say, you just keep getting better."

"Well, even if you mightn't, you did." The Doctor rolled her eyes – she paused a moment, raising an eyebrow at him. "Really, though, Captain?"

"Ahh, there's something new," Jack laughed and, not thinking about it twice, draped an arm across the Doctor's shoulders. "Is that a bit of self-consciousness I hear?"

"Hardly!" The Doctor spun about and punched him in the shoulder. Jack had been expecting some bizarre Time Lord strength but he received only a childish farce of intensity. This too irritated the Doctor and she shoved her hands into her jacket pockets before she continued on walking. She huffed a little and Jack just smiled.

"So...what're you like now?"

"I don't rightly know. Impossibly female," she grimaced with some odd form of self-deprecating humor, bumping gently into Jack's side. "But that's about all I know thus far. I hate shopping but I love clothing and I..." She paused, sliding her hands into her pocket. "I still..."

"Rose?" Jack smiled sardonically, looking sideways to his companion. Now, isn't _that_ backwards. _His_ companion.

"Yes, Rose. But it's different now," she made a face. "I still... ache for her but... not as I once did." She stopped, clenching her jaw a moment as she thought. Flashes of Rose from eyes that were not her own caused a pang. The pain felt real enough to her, though she could not fathom why. This memory or that segwayed into thoughts of all of her lost companions, from the very first to even the man standing beside her. "I ache for them all, but it's a dull ache. I just...**ache**." With one glance to her eyes, Jack could see all of the centuries she had lived in her many previous forms. His heart hurt for her in that moment, more poignantly than it ever had.

Jack stopped walking then, leaning his back against the building that lined the path they had been walking. The Doctor turned to look at him, standing in front of him as he watched her without so much as a blink. Jack rested his head back against the building, a strange look on his face. All of that pain, he mused. Certainly, Jack was akin to the feeling. Something like it, anyhow. How many of his fellows throughout his years had died? Even so far back as the wars he had fought in. And Ianto... He shook his head a little, as if trying to shake off his thoughts before he brought his eyes back to the Doctor's. Again, her gray eyes struck him dumb. He inhaled deeply through his nose, narrowing his gaze a moment.

"Do you remember the time you constructed those TARDIS keys with the low level perception properties?" He averted his eyes briefly before he began to speak again into the air between them. "Right now it's hard to look at you, like it was while you were wearing the key."

"You must think I'm a right munter, eh?" The Doctor laughed at herself, though Jack shook his head. They both knew that wasn't what he had meant.

Jack removed himself from the wall, leaning in towards the Doctor. He inhaled as if he was going to say something but then thought better of it and turned away. He paced before her for a moment before, with a heavy sigh, he leaned back into his earlier position.

"It's just...hard, Doc. You were different, the last two times, but this is...Incredible."

The Doctor couldn't think of how to respond to that. She was, to be certain, a Time Lord. Time Lady? Whichever, she was an anomaly. Even before this female regeneration, she was something. But now, after everything, what was she? She, who had previously aided in the destruction of her own race after discovering how evil they had become. She, who so often held the fate of more than just the human race in her hands. She, who loved and lost so very many.

But was it _her_? She knew it – she _felt_ it. But, it... _She_ had not done those things. _She_ had not made those choices. But the _Doctor_ had. And she was the Doctor, wasn't she?

She – the Doctor – groaned quietly, and crossed her arms over her chest as she looked at Jack.

"Do you remember what my response was when you asked why I left you behind?"

"Because you were busy," Jack smiled sideways.

"No, because-"

Jack gave her a look that said she really should _stop_ speaking. The Doctor was so taken aback that he even knew _how_ to be quite so serious, she did not continue that specific line of speech. Instead, she bestowed upon him a queasy sort of smile. An apologetic, frustratingly human smile. "Because it hurts to look at you, Jack."

A moment of silence passed between the two, a link of sorrow connecting them before Jack severed it with his knee-weakening smile.

"Flattery will get you everywhere," Jack laughed to make a mockery of his avoidance as the Doctor tilted her head, watching him. She felt the lump in her throat, the tears dare to well in her eyes.

She swallowed the feeling and let out a laugh herself, "It's something like that. Or, that's how I feel, anyhow."

"The Doctor doesn't know?" Jack watched her for a moment, this new Doctor, before pushing off of the wall and laying his arm over her shoulders again. "All right, Doc, take me for a spin."

"You've been trying to convince me into that for years." Her lips curled into her signature smile as she walked beneath his arm, leaning into him. It went against every fiber of her Time Lord being to have him so close – her previous incarnation's summary of what he was like was true, he was _wrong_. However, so was she – or so she felt. In this case, she decided, two wrongs may very well make a right.

"And Mickey said _I_ was the Captain of the Innuendo Squad," Jack snorted as the Doctor led him away to the TARDIS.

--

Aboard the TARDIS, the Doctor taught Jack how to help her fly in more detail than the last time.

"I just can't reach like I used to," she made a face, throwing a switch before scurrying around to pull down a lever.

"So that's the secret to why you came to find me? Long limbs?"

"Among other things," she responded with bedroom eyes.

Jack's own eyes widened as he watched her. He removed his hands from the controls and put them on his hips. "Are _you_ **flirting** with _me_, Doctor?"

She feigned a gasp and placed a mock-affronted hand over her heart, barely hiding a smile. "I? You accuse me of flirting, Captain? For shame."

Jack grinned openly at the Doctor before shaking his head a little, replacing his hands on the knobs he had been tweaking. "I'm _really_ beginning to like this new you."

* * *

Thanks to my reviewers and readers! Three reviews, three chapters. =) (well, with the prologue...) I'll be working on the official third chapter starting...now. Classes start Monday so who knows how much I'll get done...but I'll try. Oh, and 'munter' means...ugly person...? British slang. I was looking for something specifically Cockney but couldn't find anything suitable.

Lovelove,  
Marvy.


	4. Words

a/n: Thanks again for the reviews! I have to write more chapters, I guess, because I have more reviews than chapters! That's always exciting. So here's the thing - my brother said that this reads like a 'proper' fanfiction because I segued into the Doctor finding Jack so soon. Do you guys agree? If you do, let me know and I'll add another chapter before that bit of chapter one. I want this to be proper Whovian goodness, not some cheap fanfic. =) Oooh, and I was thinking about it - I think the Doctor looks kind of like a shorter version of Michelle Ryan (with gray eyes...'cause... I said she has gray eyes...and freckles...). Just so you guys can get a better visual, if you need one. (She's in the Planet of the Dead episode, I believe. Dark-haired girl, acts as the Doctor's companion for the episode).

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Whoniverse proper (the idea of this regeneration I made up). I didn't come up with the idea of the pinlon, but I made up the name. And the name of the city they're in. And the description of the planet, as far as I know.

* * *

Three:  
Words  
(Are the Weapons of Womenfolk)

The TARDIS landed with just a subtle jolt, Jack looking around the center pillar of the control hub to look at the Doctor with a grin. "So, Doc, where are we?"

"Take a look, Captain," she responded, moving her hands into her pockets as she strolled around the middle of the TARDIS to make slowly for the door. "You may want to leave your coat behind, though. It's a bit...warm." She disappeared a moment, returning in darker though still pin-striped shorts that cuffed below her knees, a cap-sleeve button-down blouse light in both color and fabric, a wickedly green tie, and a fedora to match the new bottoms. She smiled a little sideways, sliding the Sonic Screwdriver into a hidden pocket, the psychic paper slipped into a back pocket, and her glasses hanging neatly in her solitary breast pocket. "You know, I'm liking this woman-thing. I have an excuse to change every time we go out. I never quite understood, with my other companions, why they felt the need to dress so radically different for every stop. I quite like this."

"You still have a flare for the professional," Jack remarked, removing all but his suspender-clad slacks and white undershirt. "You make me feel a bit under-dressed, even with that tie of yours."

The Doctor looked down at the tie, lifting a small hand to toy with it. She tilted her head back a little to look at him from beneath a fringe of dark lashes, one slender eyebrow raised. "Oh, this old thing?" She dropped the act and relaxed, smiling at him. "Help yourself to the closet, if you like. There's plenty. You're more my size than...well, I am."

With the knee-weakening smile still in place on his lips, Jack wandered off in search of a different get-up. He called from 'the closet', his voice muffled by fabric, "Oh Doc, help! I'm being swallowed by an Armani shirt-beast!"

The Doctor slowly brought herself to lean against the doorway that allowed her to see Jack, buttoning up a pale blue shirt over a white undershirt. "Oi, I saw more when we-..you were on the Game Station."

Jack looked up, his hands moving to his sides and slipping into his pockets. He couldn't decide whether to smile or frown – it was so strange, hearing about their escapades from those lips. He chose to smile and, moving towards her, offered his arm. "I thought you said I had to take you for a drink first?"

"Shall we, then?" The Doctor smirked, curling her arm around his as they made for the doors of the TARDIS.

--

The colors of the planet were near-blinding, even the dull copper color of the sandy ground was somehow vibrant like a television's Technicolor on acid. The sky's blue almost caused one to squint, the blue-green of the oceans – for they had landed on a beach – looked almost like oil paints all swirling about. It was most definitely a sight to behold.

Jack stopped immediately outside of the TARDIS, causing the Doctor to bump into his back before, with chagrin, she stepped around him. With her hands on her hips, she looked about the bit of the planet she was allotted. The edges of her lips turned up but only a little – the memories that floated about in her mind caused a mixed bout of emotions. The scent of spices – cinnamon and vanilla, she thought – assailed her nose and she slid her hands into her pocket, looking sideways to Jack.

"Well, Captain? What do you think?"

"What, exactly, is it that I'm looking at, Doc?" His words were vaguely skeptical but the tone of his voice and the look on his face betrayed his appreciation.

"Barcelona."

Jack's grin was enough to make the Doctor smile before nodding her head to the side. "And how about that drink, Captain?"

--

The two of them wandered down the beach, their shoes kicking sand in little spurts whilst they looked about the oceanside bazaar. Stands of wares, some ornate and some as plain as wood and simple fabric, lined their path and set a welcoming - if boisterous - tone. Eventually they stumbled upon an outdoor pub-like establishment, the two of them taking seats with drinks not too far behind. Beneath the blanket of stars and the shining sepia light of Barcelona's two moons, the Doctor and the Captain spoke.

"Nice to have a break, isn't it, Doc?" Jack swished the beer-like liquid in his mug, leaning back in his chair as he looked across the table to his companion.

She let her limbs fall limp, all except the hand that held her cup of tea, and smiled at him. "Oh yes, Jack. Unfortunately, they are usually short-lived from what I can tell."

They sat in silence a moment, Jack looking up at the sky. "The skies are made of diamonds..." he murmured, reminded of his first meeting with the second form of the Doctor he had met. They had traveled to the end of the universe, finding a Time Lord – the Master – who had disguised himself as a human by the use of a fob watch. Suddenly, he turned his gaze on the Doctor. "Hey Doc – you know that whole essence-in-a-fob-watch thing?" Her body tightened a little, moving to lean with her elbows on the table, nodding slightly. "That makes you forget you're a Time Lo-...Lady, right?" Again, she tilted her head in agreement. "Why don't you just...take a break? A longer one?"

She narrowed her eyes at the air beside his head and straightened her spine, taking a sip without thought. The memory of becoming John Smith, of loving as a human, of not needing to _run_ for even so brief a time... The Doctor's breath hitched and she turned her head quickly, as if the spot of open sky beyond Jack had a hold on her. She shook her head, murmuring only, "I cannot. It will... _end_...I...cannot."

Jack did not press her, not in that line of thought. Instead, he watched her with only the sound of their breathing and soft conversations beside for a long moment. His thoughts, inevitably, turned to Rose. "Doc...can I ask you something else?"

She frowned a little but shrugged her petite shoulders and sat back again to drink her tea.

"...Your last..._you_, I suppose – why didn't you..._he_...why didn't he do the fob watch trick, to be with Rose?"

Her face was blank briefly as a barrage of emotions, memories, and regrets flooded her little mind. She looked, then, as if he had struck her a mighty blow. "I..." She swallowed and inhaled deeply, doing her best to shake off thoughts that were not her own. She leaned back into the chair and draped one knee over the other, cupping her mug of tea in both hands. "Jack, the way the technology works... taking my previous...form into account, and Rose? I – he -... I..._he_ would have created a persona – most likely very similar to his own, minus the Time Lord bits... and sort of..._superimposed_ the character into his mind. He wouldn't have remembered who he...was, I am...whichever. At any rate, it wouldn't have been _him_. It would have been like..." She paused, furrowing her eyebrows as she thought. "Like... loving a character from a play, or a television show. He wouldn't have been _real_. Something he had created, just for her – but he wouldn't have his..._self_. Does that make any sense?"

Jack watched the Doctor – for what was certainly the first time – as if she were an alien. Not as if she were frightening – though, he had to admit, she was a little. She was so...fragile, so strong, so hurt, so courageous. She was so...impossible, so incredible. "It...does, Doctor." He stopped, frowning a little. What words were there?

"I...I am sorry."

"Hmm? Oh," she smiled slowly, a sad, queasy sort of smile. "The life of a Time...Lady, I suppose. It's to be expected...I just keep on. That's...what I do, Captain."

He returned her smile – with one swift and fluid movement, repositioned his chair beside hers, faced inwards towards her. He reached out with one hand and set it just a bit above her knee. "Doctor, you're not-"

"I know, Jack. I know." She cut him off with a pleasant – albeit sorrowful – glance and patted the back of his hand gently. She couldn't bare to hear him finish the sentence, the words to follow were just too much.

Silence struck the pair again, their hands still somewhat joined on her leg. They continued to drink in silence before the Doctor set down her mug and jumped up. "Well, Captain. I think that constitutes as 'a drink', wouldn't you?" Jack watched her with a cocked brow, setting down his empty glass beside hers. He stood as well, removing coins from his pocket and dropping them on the table.

"Will those do?"

The Doctor leaned over the table, looking down at the money Jack had offered. She shrugged slightly, pulling back to stand up straight before she headed towards the walkway of the bazaar. "Should do. Because of the nature of this town, Catimer – a trading town, basically – they'll take most anything as payment." To lighten the mood, the Doctor flashed him a suggestive smile.

Jack nodded a little and let out a small laugh before he offered his arm to the Doctor again, letting her lead him into the night.

--

Something like thirty meters down from the pub, the Doctor made a noise of excited exclamation before dropping to her knees in the sand. She then proceeded to pat her thighs and whistle, as if calling a dog. Something Jack had not seen earlier began to bound over towards her. He watched with a look of intrigue on his face as something that looked almost identical to a kind of mutt-like dog came forward and began to nuzzle the Doctor.

"Oooh, there's a good pinlon...ooohhh...aren't you _precious_..." She grinned, taking the dog's wet kisses with grace. The dog – the dog that lacked, Jack noticed, a nose at that end of his muzzle – sat back, wagging its tail without so much as a peep from his companion. The Doctor looked up at Jack from the ground, still smiling. "Captain, this is a pinlon. As you can see, just a noseless dog...mostly."

"Is it kind of like saying a Time Lord is just a human with two hearts?" He smiled sideways, crouching down to pet the animal.

The Doctor laughed appreciatively and patted Jack on the shoulder. "More or less." She paused, reaching out to scratch the animal gently under his - _it_ was decidedly a _him _- chin. She turned her head a little, looking at Jack, "Just think of something for him to do."

With his head cocked a little to the side, Jack did as he was told. Without him uttering a word, the dog-like creature stood up, turned about in a circle, and settled right back down. Jack simply grinned. "Magnificent!"

"The wonders of Barcelona," the Doctor stood then, Jack following suit. The pinlon did as well, standing ready at the Doctor's feet. She looked down at him and tilted her head. "Well, does that mean you're coming?"

The pinlon let out one somewhat harmonious yip, wagged his tail, and started to trot on forward.

"Looks like that stray-dog thing was pretty accurate," Jack chuckled, positioning his hands in his pockets as the trio wandered on into the darkness.

It was halfway to the center of the town that the Doctor stopped and sniffed. The pinlon did the same, and he appeared to be..._frowning_. The Doctor, however, was more obviously displeased. She turned about a little, looking around. She looked up, then down. Finally, she groaned. A mist – in all appearances, an unremarkable bit of condensation – had started to roll in about their feet. She glanced out again, towards the ocean. It was denser there, much more like... fog.

"Captain..."

"...Yes?" He had been watching her with a concerned look of his own. No one liked it when the Doctor looked like that.

"RUN!"

* * *

I decided to play 'guess the title' so if you know which episode the chapter's title ("words are the weapons of womenfolk") leave it in a review with your thoughts! I don't have any prizes except...more chapters?

Again, thanks for reviewing and continue to do it!

Lovelove,  
Marvy


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